Pollinators provide key services to both natural and agricultural ecosystems. Agricultural productivity depends, in part on pollinator populations from adjacent semi natural habitats.The diversity and abundance of different insect visitors on sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) were studied at Pantnagar. A total of 12 insect visitors belonging to order Hymenoptera (9), Diptera (1), Lepidoptera (1), and Coleoptera (1) were observed visiting the blossom of sunflower. The abundance (percentage of insect/m2/2min.) of Hymenopterans were maximum (86.09%) followed by the Dipterans (22.80 %) and others (3.87%). In Hymenopterans, the honeybees (Apis bees) were observed maximum (65.22 %) followed by non Apis bees (20.39 %) and the scolid wasp (1.69 %)

Goswami, Vimla

Khan, M. S.

Usha, Usha

Pollinators provide key services to both natural and agricultural ecosystems. Agricultural productivity depends, in part on pollinator populations from adjacent semi natural habitats.The diversity and abundance of different insect visitors on sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) were studied at Pantnagar. A total of 12 insect visitors belonging to order Hymenoptera (9), Diptera (1), Lepidoptera (1), and Coleoptera (1) were observed visiting the blossom of sunflower. The abundance (percentage of insect/m2/2min.) of Hymenopterans were maximum (86.09%) followed by the Dipterans (22.80 %) and others (3.87%). In Hymenopterans, the honeybees (Apis bees) were observed maximum (65.22 %) followed by non Apis bees (20.39 %) and the scolid wasp (1.69 %).</jats:p

Vimla Goswami

M. S. Khan

Usha Usha

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Journal of Applied and Natural Science

Studies on pollinator fauna and their relative abundance of sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) at Pantnagar, Uttarakhand, India

294Journal of Applied and Natural Science 5 (2): 294-296 (2013)  JANSStudies on pollinator fauna and their relative abundance of sunflower(Helianthus annuus L.) at Pantnagar, Uttarakhand, IndiaVimla Goswami*, M. S. Khan and UshaDepartment of Entomology, College of Agriculture, G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar-263145 (Uttarakhand), INDIA*Corresponding author. E-mail: vimlagoswami87@yahoo.co.inReceived: April 14, 2013; Revised received: June 27, 2013; Accepted: July 12,  2013Abstract: Pollinators provide key services to both natural and agricultural ecosystems. Agricultural productivitydepends, in part on pollinator populations from adjacent semi natural habitats.The diversity and abundance ofdifferent insect visitors on sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) were studied at Pantnagar. A total of 12 insect visitorsbelonging to order Hymenoptera (9), Diptera (1), Lepidoptera (1), and Coleoptera (1) were observed visiting theblossom of sunflower. The abundance (percentage of insect/m2/2min.) of Hymenopterans were maximum (86.09%) followed by the Dipterans (22.80 %) and others (3.87%). In Hymenopterans, the honeybees (Apis bees) wereobserved maximum (65.22 %) followed by non Apis bees (20.39 %) and the scolid wasp (1.69 %).Keywords: Abundance,  Diversity, Helianthus annuus, PollinatorISSN : 0974-9411 (Print), 2231-5209 (Online)  All Rights Reserved © Applied and Natural Science Foundation  www.ansfoundation.orgINTRODUCTIONSeveral agriculture and horticulture crops cultivated inIndia derive benefit or are dependent on pollinatinginsects for effecting qualitative and quantitativeimprovement in crops yield. Among different pollinators,bees are considered as the best pollinating agents dueto their suitable body size, hairiness, thoroughness,steadfastness, floral consistency and manageablepopulations. About one-third of the human diet comesfrom insect pollinated plants, and the honey bees accountfor 80 per cent of pollination (FAO, 1995). Sunflower isthe second most important oil seed crop in the worldnext to soybean. It is important crop in the temperatecountries like Russia, Bulgaria, Romania, Canada and theUSA. India has the fourth largest area under sunflower(2.15 m ha) in the world .The flowers produce abundantquantity of nectar and pollen which attract large numberof honey bees. In most of the crops we largely seek forhoney bees and depend on them for pollination services.However, there are many other insects especially thenative bees which may play significant role in pollination.Among pollinating insects, Hymenopterans species haveproved as boon for efficient and effective pollination inmost of the crops (De Grandi-Hoffman and Watkins,2000). The experiments conducted at various researchcenters in India revealed that the crop yield and qualityof produce can be increased considerably through bee’spollination (Torchio, 1994; Greenleaf and Kremen, 2006).Bees certainly are essential in seed production ofsunflower because pollen must be transferred from male-fertile to male sterile plants (De Grandi-Hoffman andChambers, 2006). Keeping above in view the presentinvestigation was conducted to study the pollinator faunaand their relative abundance of sunflower (Helianthusannuus L.) at Pantnagar, Uttarakhand.MATERIALS AND METHODSThe studies were conducted at Apiary site in College ofAgriculture, G. B. Pant University of Agriculture andTechnology Pantnagar, Uttarakhand (India) during theyear 2012. The diversity of insect visitors was recordedand the individuals collected by a hand net. Sweeps weremade at peak blooming period of sun flower crop everyday, at fixed time intervals. The abundance of insectvisitors per sq. m. area was recorded at hourly intervalsfrom 10:00 to 14:00 h, during the blooming period of thecrop. The averages of the observations were calculated.RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONDiversity of pollinators: A total of 12 insect visitorsbelonging to order Hymenoptera (9), Diptera (1),Lepidoptera (1), and Coleoptera (1) were found to visitthe sunflower crop (Table 1).Hymenopteran visitors belonged to six families namelyApidae (4), Xylocopidae (1), Halictidae (2), andMagachilidae (1). Lepidopteran visitors belonged tofamilies Pieridae (1). Besides this some Dipteran visitorbelonged to families Syrphidae (1) were observed onsunflower. From the family Apidae, honeybees (Apismellifera, A. dorsata and A. cerana indica), and stinglessbee (Trigona laeviceps) were the five species that were2008APPLIED    ANDNATURAL SCIENCEFOUNDATIONANSF295 Vimla Goswami et al. / J. Appl. & Nat. Sci. 5 (2): 294-296 (2013)recorded on the sun flowers. carpanter bee (Xylocopairidipennis) of Xylocopidae, the Alkali Bees (Nomia sp.)and Halictus sp. of Halictidae, Leaf cutter bee (Megachiledisjuncta) of Megachilidae, the digger bee (Anthophorasp.) of Anthophoridae and Sphex sp. of Sphecidae visitedthe sunflower.From Diptera family Syrphidae (Syrphuscorollae ). Lepidopterans namely Cabbage butterfly(Pieris brassicae) of family Pieridae was observed. Jadhavet al. (2011) observed that twenty species visitingsunflower heads that belonged to orders Hymenoptera,Lepidoptera, Diptera and Coleoptera. Species richnesswas high in Hymenopterafollowed by Lepidoptera andColeoptera. Hymenoptera comprised of two families,Lepidoptera of four families, Coleoptera of three familiesand one family under Diptera. A. mellifera L. was themost important pollinator of sunflower in France whilethe other pollinator fauna included five species ofBombus, Halictus and Andrena (Delaude et al., 1978).Relative abundance of different pollinators: Theabundance (percentage of insect/m2/2min.) ofInsect visitor Common name Order Family Apis mellifera Italian honey bee Hymenoptera Apidae A. dorsata Rock bee Hymenoptera Apidae A. cerana indica Indian honeybee Hymenoptera Apidae Trigona laeviceps Stingless bee Hymenoptera Apidae Megachile disjuncta Leaf cutter bee Hymenoptera Megachilidae Xylocopa iridipennis Carpenter bee Hymenoptera Xylocopidae Anthophora sp. Digger bee Hymenoptera Anthophoridae Halictus spp. Sweat bee Hymenoptera Halictidae Nomia sp. Alkali bee Hymenoptera Halictidae Syrphus corollae Syrphid fly Diptera Syrphidae Pieris brassicae Cabbage butterfly Lepidoptera Pieridae Coccinella septumpunctata Ladybird beetle Coleoptera Coccinellidae Table 1. Diversity of pollinator on sunflower crop at Pantnagar.Table 2. Relative abundance of different insect visitors on sunflowers of during different hours of the day.Insect groups Abundance of insect visitor (insect visitors/m2/2min) 10:00 h 12:00 h 14:00 h Mean Hymenopterans 85.30 88.50 84.48 86.09 Apis bees 70.80 66.31 58.55 65.22 Non Apis bees 15.74 21.28 24.17 20.39 Wasp 0.89 2.43 1.76 1.69 Dipterans 20.10 25.66 22.64 22.80 Insect visitors Percent abundance of pollinators (insect visitors/m2/2min) 10:00 h 12:00 h 14:00 h Mean Apis mellifera 80.25 88.26 83.42 83.97 Apis dorsata 33.73 40.50 41.30 38.51 Apis  cerana 45.13 53.30 33.11 43.84 Apis florea 4.00 4.15 6.60 4.91 Halictus spp. 9.67 10.06 13.00 10.91 Trigona laeviceps 31.65 44.61 45.23 40.49 Anthophora sp. 22.87 33.89 25.39 27.38 Nomia sp. 10.83 18.94 16.20 15.33 Xylocopa iridipennis 5.17 18.78 12.35 12.10 Megachile disjuncta 10.43 14.91 18.72 14.68 Syrphus spp. 21.30 33.13 33.73 29.38 Others 2.60 2.89 6.13 3.87 Table 3. Number of species of floral visitors on sunflower crop.296Vimla Goswami et al. / J. Appl. & Nat. Sci. 5 (2): 294-296 (2013)Hymenopterans were maximum (86.09 %) followed by theDipterans (22.80 %) and others (3.87%). InHymenopterans, the honeybees (Apis bees) wereobserved maximum (65.22 %) followed by non Apis bees(20.39 %) and the scolid wasp (1.69 %). The Italian honeybee (Apis mellifera) was maximum (83.97 %) followed byA. cerana indica (43.84 %), A. dorsata (38.51 %), A. florea(4.49 %), the stingless bee (40.49 %), Halictus spp. (10.91%), Anthophora sp. (27.38 %), X. iridipennis (12.10%),and Syrphus spp. (29.38 %) of the insect visitors onsunflower was recorded. Maximum abundance of A.mellifera was observed at 1200h with mean of 88.26 andleast (80.25) at 1000h. According to Swaminathan andBhardwaj (1982), A. dorsata formed the chief pollinatorand constitute about 81.20% of the total insect visitorsfollowed by A. florea (8.23%), Lasioglosum sp (3.75%),Pithitis Smaragdula (2.37%), Xylocopa sp. (0.14%), andChalicodoma lerma (0.13%) (Tables 2 and 3). Ahmed etal. (1989) found that among the insects visiting sunflower,Hymenopterous species were the most importantpollinators and honeybees formed 75 per cent ofHymenoptera on sunflower. Other bees which visited thecrop and directly affected yield were Bombus spp., Nomiamelanderi, Megachile rotundata and Halictus sp (Moretiet al., 1996) .ConclusionIn conclusion, this study provides insights into theimportance of pollinator insects to help plant pollination,included sun flower an importance crop in the tropic. It isclear from present finding that the sunflower capitulumin bloom is highly attractive to multitude of insect species,especially those belonging to Hymenoptera and Diptera.The results indicate a diversity and abundance ofpollinator insects, especially bees, plays a significantrole in seed set of sunflower. Hence, conservation of beespecies by encouraging increased forage crops in thevicinity of cropped areas is recommended which enrichesbiodiversity along the line.REFERENCESAhmed, H.M.H; Siddig, M.A. and Sarrag, M.S.A. (1989).Honeybee pollination of some cultivated crops in Sudan.Proceedings of the Fourth International Conference onApiculture in Tropical Climates, Cairo, Egypt, 6-10November 1988. 100-108.De Grandi-Hoffman. G and Chambers. M. (2006). Effects ofhoneybee (Hymenoptera: Apidae) foraging on seed set inself-fertile sunflowers Helianthus annuus L. Environ.Entomol. 35(4): 1103-1108Degrandi-Hoffmann, G. and Watkins, J.C. (2000). The foragingactivity of honeybees Apis mellifera and non Apis bees onhybrid sunflower (Helianthus annuus)and its influence oncross-pollination and seed set. Journal Apicultural Research39, 37-45.Delaude, A; Tasei, J. N. and Roller, M. (1978). Pollinator insectsof sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) in France, pollinationof male sterile lines of hybrid seed production. Proc. IV Int.Sym. on Pollination, Maryland, 29-40.FAO, (1995). Pollination of cultivated plants in the tropics.Agric. Serv. Bull. no. 118, 198.Greenleaf, S. S. and Kremen, C. (2006). Wild bees enhancehoneybees’ pollination of hybrid sunflower. Proceedingof the National Academy of Science, USA, 103, 13890-13895.Jadhav, J. A; Sreedevi, K. and Rajendra P. (2011). Insectpollinator diversity and abundance in sunflower ecosystem.Current Biotica, 5(3): 344-350Moreti, A. C.; Silva, R. M. B; Silva, E. C. A., Alves, M. L. T.and Otsuk, I. P. (1996). Increase of sunflower (Helianthusannuus L.) seed production by pollinating insect action.Scientia Agricola 53(2/3): 280- 284.Swaminathan, R. and Bhardwaj, S. C. (1982). Bee pollinatorsof sunflower and their foraging behaviour. Indian Bee Journal,44(2): 32-34.Torchio, P. F. (1994). The present status and future prospects ofnon-social bees as crop pollinators. Bee World, 75(2): 49-53.

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Studies on pollinator fauna and their relative abundance of sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) at Pantnagar, Uttarakhand, India

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